Well pumping apparatus



J. M. COURTNEY WELL PUMPING APPARATUS Filed May 2'?, 1941 July 28, 1942.

Patented July 28, 1942'` UNITED STATES PATENT AOFFICE 2,291,378 WELL PUMPING APPARATUS John M. Courtney,,Vivi an, La. Application May 27, 1941, Serial No. 395,328

' (el. 10s- 220) 1 Claim.

The invention relates to well pumping mechanism and more' particularly to the structure through which liquid is led to a pump at the bottom of a well. It has particular application to oil wells in whichiboth oil and gas are present but can be applied top any type of well.

In most oil wells, because of their depth the pumping mechanism must be located at the bottom of the well rather than at the surface and it is particularly desirableto protect this mechanism against gas locks and sediment which would erode the pump mechanism. To this end many types of construction have been suggested for the purpose of eliminating gas and sediment from the oil before it reaches the pump. Some of these have been unsatisfactory because of their complexity and others because they were unable to satisfactorily separate out the gas and sediment from the oil.

The present device has the advantage of a very simple construction and yet is very eflicient in its separation of the gas and. the sediment from the oil. It provides a constant reservoir of relatively gas free oil that effectively prevents the' pump from sucking in quantities of 'gas and thus becoming gas locked. At the ksame time it pro vides satsfactorily for the removalof sediment and thus greatly reduces any pump wear that would otherwise be caused by sediment.

To reach the pump, the oil, which quite often contains considerable quantities of gas, passes into a chamber of such dimensions that it will hold a quantity of oil sufiicient to supply the pump for a number of oscillations. It is permitted toAremain in this chamber and is subjected to anoscillatory pressure variation due to the action of the pump for a suicient period of time to liberate a large portion' of the free gas contained therein. The gas is allowed to escape out of the chamber and back into the surrounding formation and the liquid, oil in most cases, is drawn through one or morefrestricted openings into a second chamber where any sediment in it is permitted to settle to the bottom of the chamber. From the top of this chamber the oil or other liquid passes 'to the pump and is lifted to the surface of the earth.

Further details and advantages of this construction will be apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof and from the'accompanying drawing: l

In the drawing the single figure illustrates in vertical cross-section the preferred embodiment of the device of this invention. I

As illustrated this device consists of a-pump tube I0 in which is positioned a pump piston II reciprocated from the surface of the earth by .a pump rod I2. The pump piston II carries a traveling valve I3 and a stationary valve I4 is located below it in the pump tube. At the bottom of tube I0, and connected thereto by a short intermediate tube Illa, is a settling chamber `I5 dened by a hollow cylindrical vmember I6 and a cup shaped member I1 threaded into the lower end thereof. Above the settling chamber and surrounding the pump tube isa gas separation chamber I8 defined by the ftop of the cylindrical member I6, a piece of tubing I9 larger than the pump tube and an annulus 20 sealing the top end of this larger tube to the pump tube.

Liquid and gas are admitted to the separating chamber I8 through openings 2| partwayup the side of the separating chamber. Any gas that separates out of the fluid in the chamber is permitted to escape through openings 22 nearer the top of the chamber.

Communication between the separating chamber and the settling chamber is had through openings 23 of restricted size in the cylindrical member I6. These openings connect the bottom of the separating chamber directly to the top of the settling chamber.

Preferably the capacity of the gas separating chamber is such that it will hold approximatelyl two and one half times the amount of liquid that the-pump will move in a single stroke. The gas escape slot 22 is about three inches below the top end of the gas separating chamber. The size of the slots through which oil and gas enter and v gas leaves the separating chamber and the size of the openings between the separating chamber and the settling chamber and the number of these openings depend upon the diameter of the well bore and the capacity of the pump.

Experience has shown that when the size of these openings is properly adjusted for a particular pumping job, the gas is very eiiiciently separated fromvthe oil, the sedimentseparates out very satisfactorily, the gas at the top'of the separating chamberhas a surge chamber effect which causes the pump to operate more efciently, trouble with gas locks is eliminated, and the pump` serves longer without replacement because of theelimination of these disturbing vand wearing factors. p

Itis to be. understood that numerous modifications of the design illustrated may be made within the skill of those familiar with the art without departing from the spirit of this inven tion.

I claim: In a device of the type described, a pump tube,

a reciprocating Dump' disposed substantially at 5 the lower end thereof, a settling chamber dis- Iposed below said pump tube and in unrestricted communication therewith, a cylindrical surge chamber surrounding said pump tube,7 a series of .vertically elongated openings in the outer wall l 'oi-said surge chamber for the admission of oil 

